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Who are the cool kids now?

Fortunately or unfortunately I haven’t been that involved with the design community for the past couple of months besides what I notice in my newsreader. Last year I wrote a post about the movers and shakers in our industry and thought it would be cool to see who you thought is making the most noise now.

Gone are the days of Shea, Bowman, Zeldman and Cederholm. In their places are who, who, who and who?

What I find interesting is how many people have entered the standards community field causing us to have less and less “leaders” and simply more speakers. I don’t know if we need leaders anymore since the path was pretty well-laid out by Zeldman, but it would be nice to have a place to go where we know good things would happen. Sort of like how ALA was a while ago.

Here is my short list of who I see as the innovators today and it’s no small coincidence they are part of the 9rules Network:

  • Particle Tree: If most websites could accomplish in two years what these guys have done in two months everyone would be happy. I am going to take a risk now and call them the next 37signals (but better).
  • Jonathan Snook: Simply a web dev genius developing right before my eyes. In a sense I like to refer to him as the web renaissance man because he does it all and he does it damn well.
  • Mark Boulton: From articles on Grid Systems to deep thoughts on Typography is there anyone else in our community today that sounds more like they know what they are talking about than Mark?

No doubt I have missed a few, but those are the five that stood out immediately. Who do you have on the list? And please note this has nothing to do with the (fabled) A-List as none of these sites would be considered on it.

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Published by Scrivs on August 2, 2005 in Designer Resources • Did you like it? Subscribe! Or Submit it to Blogosphere News!

21 people says things!

  1. You say those are the five that stood out, but you list three. Am I missing something?

    By Jeff Wheeler on August 2, 2005 2:14 am

  2. Particle Tree is composed of three individuals.

    By Scrivs on August 2, 2005 2:24 am

  3. Yeah but,do these stand out merely because they are on the 9 rules network?

    Some cool kids are: Benjamin Adam Howell, Dr Keith Robinson, and Anne van Kesteren to name but a few.

    By Phil Thompson on August 2, 2005 5:31 am

  4. @Phil: I don’t think you could really describe Anne as ‘innovating’ - he’s more of a technical commentator than a go-to guru.

    I think there are some people on the cusp of launching something great - Mint is going to be amazing, and Tom Werner seems to have some great things on the horizon.

    By Matthew Pennell on August 2, 2005 8:44 am

  5. Scrivs - no love?

    By Peter Flaschner on August 2, 2005 8:48 am

  6. In innovators, I’m taking it as people doing great work and making worthwhile posts about the industry, but not necessarily on a daily (or even weekly) basis.

    I would put Keith on the list. I would also add Cameron Moll, Veerle Pieters, Patrick Griffiths and Mike Davidson. I don’t know if I would omit folks like Shea, Bowman, Zeldman and Cederholm either.

    By Chris K on August 2, 2005 9:02 am

  7. They definitely don’t standout because they are in the network, but because they are the ones getting linked and seem to be consistently putting out content that gets linked.

    Peter you have wonderful thoughts on business, but nothing really new about design. That of course doesn’t mean your content doesn’t rock, but it just doesn’t fit in with the entry at hand.

    By Scrivs on August 2, 2005 9:04 am

  8. Phil: Hey man, thanks, I really appreciate that.

    As far as an answer to the cool kids question, I would have to say:

    - Samantha L. Young (http://www.strangepursuit.net/)
    - Nicolai Schwarz (http://www.textformer.de/)
    - David Duke (http://blog.4bit.co.uk/)

    Who are they? Three names I randomly pulled out of the CSS Reboot list of participants (http://www.cssreboot.com/rebooters). I personally think the idea of “the cool kids” is ridiculous and one of the reasons I started the Reboot in the first place, actually. But, that’s just me.

    By B. Adam on August 2, 2005 9:29 am

  9. Heh, I think you are mad about the title “the cool kids” and not the actual concept of it. It’s ridiculous to many because we feel that the community should be equal and that everyone puts in the same amount of work. However, there are a few that simply go above and beyond others and I would like to know who you think they are.

    Label them whatever you want. I figured calling them the “cool kids” would lighten the topic a bit.

    Zeldman, Shea, Cederholm and Bowman would’ve fell on this list a couple of years ago and look at them today. Pretty damn successful. That is why I am looking for the new set. I love to see who is going to go above and beyond just doing okay and be really special and therefore the idea is far beyond “ridiculous” to me.

    By Scrivs on August 2, 2005 9:36 am

  10. I really like the design of Ryan Sims. And he’s got good taste in music, too.

    By Dave Simon on August 2, 2005 11:09 am

  11. While I am quite grateful to be randomly mentioned by B. Adam, it’s fairly safe to say, that I am not anywhere near being a cool kid. Not in the sense of this post.

    But I’d like to add Stu Nicholls (http://www.stunicholls.myby.co.uk)

    By Nicolai Schwarz on August 2, 2005 12:32 pm

  12. I’d second Keith Robinson and add another Keith (Jeremy Keith) along with a few other Brits: Simon, Andy, and Richard.

    By Britt on August 2, 2005 2:26 pm

  13. “Here is my short list of who I see as the innovators today and it’s no small coincidence they are part of the 9rules Network:”

    Never have I read a more true statement. :)

    By Mike D. on August 2, 2005 2:49 pm

  14. Though it would probably gall him to be included in the “cool kids” Mike D’s posts display a level of thought and writing ability rarely found in the web design blogosphere.

    And few can match Keith for consistency and quantity of output. Even if he does say “y’all” in his posts.

    By Christian Watson on August 2, 2005 3:17 pm

  15. Scrivs wrote “Zeldman, Shea, Cederholm and Bowman would’ve fell on this list a couple of years ago and look at them today. Pretty damn successful. That is why I am looking for the new set.”

    Those guys definitely changed the way we as designers think about and build sites. Browsing through sites like the Vault, Stylegala, the Zen Garden, CSSbeauty, etc. show that. Outside of the garden, I don’t think the other galleries list the designer/creator of the featured sites (unless I’m missing it somewhere). Not to build egos, but I think giving those folks kudos would definitely help recognize the “innovators.”

    By Chris K on August 3, 2005 8:53 am

  16. Suprised to see that Shaun Inman was not
    mentioned.

    By Johann on August 3, 2005 2:52 pm

  17. I just checked my logs and I find I’ve been mentioned here.
    But only as a unknown cool-kid, lol!
    I think Zledman, Orchard, Shea have kinda slipped behind abit now.
    Ok, Shea hasn’t, but Zeldman has for sure!

    By David Duke on August 4, 2005 6:26 am

  18. hmm…:?

    By Meridian on August 17, 2005 9:55 am

  19. I am the coolest kid in the town

    By Jeff Parker on September 23, 2005 12:59 pm

  20. Johann Shaun is cool kid, whoithout any comments :), I’m his brother!

    By Cowandcloth on December 15, 2005 5:43 pm

  21. Mark Boulton is my hero. He is totally rad.

    By Gino on January 7, 2006 4:30 pm

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